Cambridge, Mass.. (AP) – Two freshmen at Harvard University have launched a website designed to connect people fleeing Ukraine to the safe countries they want to receive – and offer help and accommodation offers around the world.
Marco Burstein, 18, of Los Angeles, and Avi Schiffman, 19, of Seattle, used coding skills because of the desperate situation of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s bombing of the former Soviet republic. UkraineTakeShelter.com For three days of rage in early March.
Since then, more than 18,000 potential hosts have registered on the site to offer assistance to refugees looking for matches with hosts in their preferred or convenient locations. On the last day, Burstein and Schiffmann registered 800,000 users.
“We’ve heard all sorts of amazing stories about connecting with hosts and refugees around the world,” Burstein said in an interview on the Harvard campus. “We have hosts in almost every country you can think of, from Hungary to Romania and from Poland to Canada and Australia. And we were really surprised at the response.”
According to the United Nations, five weeks after the invasion that killed thousands on both sides, the number of Ukrainians who fled the country exceeded 4 million, half of them children.
Schiffman, who spent a semester working on several projects, said from Miami that he was inspired to use his internet activism to help after attending a pro-Ukrainian demonstration in San Diego.
“I felt like I could really do something more universal here,” he said. “Ukraine Take Shelter returns power to refugees … They can take the initiative and ask for applications and talk independently with the hosts, instead of freezing on the pavement in Eastern Europe. Winter. “
Among those who received refugees through the website was Ricard Mijarov, a resident of Link პ ping in southwestern Sweden, who shared his home with 45-year-old Ukrainian displaced Oksana Franceva, the her 18-year-old daughter and their cat.
Mijarov and his wife registered at the embassy and indicated they would help, but then they stumbled upon a Harvard student site and registered there as well.
“The next day, I received a text from Oksana asking if we had a place for them,” she said in an interview with Zoom. “It quickly became a reality.”
“I was surprised at how quickly Richard answered me,” Franceva said as she stopped in English. Five days later she, her daughter and their pet were at the front door.
Burstein and Schiffmann created a platform to address the specific concerns of fighting refugees. They tried to make it as easy to use as possible so that the person in immediate danger could access their location and see the nearest offer of help available to them.
On the host side, they also give potential visitors the opportunity to indicate the language they speak; How many refugees can they host; And any restrictions on small children or pets.
“We know this is a potentially dangerous situation, so we have a lot of steps to take to protect our refugees,” Burstein said. “We have a detailed guide that we provide to all refugees to help them verify the host they are talking to – make sure the person they are talking to on the phone is the person they are talking to. in person.”
The two students say they are looking to arrange a meeting with UNHCR officials and also plan to work with Airbnb, Vrbo and other online holiday rental companies.
So far, they have accepted all the costs – the hardship for college students – the costs of web hosting and Google Translate. But they decided to continue as long as possible and are looking to register for a 501 (c) (3) Nonprofit so they can apply for grants.
Back in Sweden, Mijarov admitted that opening the house was a bit annoying, but he doesn’t regret it.
“This is the first time we’ve done something like this,” he said, sitting down next to Franceva. “But they are good people. So, yes, it is fine ”.
Source: Huffpost
